The Beauty In Bones
by HanShaped
Summary: A passionate palaeontologist and a beautiful artist—at first, they don't seem to have much in common. However, a set of bones and a murder mystery draws them together in a rather unexpected fashion. It may be a begginning of a long lasting partnership, or maybe something way more exciting. ("The 200th in the 10th" 'verse; basically, it is a collection of Hodgela-centered ficlets.)
1. A Face In The Remains

**_A/N_** _:_ _I loved that episode, but as a huge Hodgela fan I was a tad bit dissapointed that they get only a one short scene, as cute as it was. And after some fruitless searching for a fic about them in that setting, I gave up and decided to write something myself._

 _And that is why I present you today, my dear readers, that humble collection of ficlets I hope you will enjoy._

 _Since it is my first work for_ Bones _,_ _I have to start with admitting that I fell in love with that show not so long time ago (well, in the autumn of last year), but it helped me so much both as a source of great entertainment and an escape in the worse moments._

 _When I was watching "The 200th in the 10th" for the first time, I kinda hoped that they would show the process of sketching (Hodgela, you know), but I guess the 45-minute time frame didn't let them._

 _So this is my take on what could've happened in that moment. I hope everyone is bearably in character (especially Angie, since I don't consider it my best take on her character; hopefully, I will be more content with her in the next ficlet).  
_ _However, I must admit I'm quite glad with how Hodgins' portrayal turned out—I think that he resembles that hopeless and nerdy romantic we all know and love._

 _Let me know if you like it!  
_ _I have a few more ideas, but I'm more than open for prompts and suggestions :D_

 _(It's a repost of a fanfic that was first published on Ao3 on July 28th, 2017.)_

* * *

 ** _A Face In The Remains_**

* * *

Professor Hodgins paced nervously from the supposed remains of Eva Braga, set neatly on a table, to his precious tyrannosaurus. Miss Brennan's idea of sketching a dead woman's face was brilliant, admittedly, however, even the awareness of that fact couldn't ease his anxiety. After all, despite all the superlatives which Miss Brennan used to describe her artist friend, there could only be so many as talented and as brilliant women as her. In other words, the professor feared that even though that woman might possess necessary artistic skills, she would not be able to capture accurately a possible appearance of the murder victim.

Obviously, he was the one to read all the information they needed from the bones, but he found himself lacking an artist's imagination. He was afraid that if that woman— _Miss Montenegro_ , he reminded himself—was unable to see anything in the bones herself, their task would be much more strenuous that he had initially anticipated, and its outcome could be short of the required accuracy. In consequence, the sketch would be of a very little help to Miss Brennan.

"She still has a few minutes, professor," Edison pointed out, his eyes fixed on a bone he was currently studying.

At first, Hodgins ignored that comment, but after one more round from one remains to the others he concluded that his walking around could not possibly change the course of the current situation, and therefore he stopped next to the woman's bones.

"Have you discovered something new?," professor asked his assistant with genuine interest, hoping that there might be a clue in the bones helpful in determining the woman's identity. In that case, sketching would become completely unnecessary.

"No, nothing," Edison admitted, a little disappointed. "But I'm trying to collect as much information about the influence of fire on human bones as I can. I believe it's worth documenting, because it may be useful in the future," he smiled proudly, clearly pleased with his own forward thinking.

"Yes, it is certainly worth doing…," professor agreed, leaning over the bones. "Never have I thought I might be that invested in examining the bones that are not million years old and furthermore belong to _homo sapiens_ ," he muttered, looking closely at the charred surface of ribs and a sternum.

He became so immersed in his observation that he didn't register someone walking into the room and calling his name. It was a slight poking on his arm that finally attracted his attention. He turned around abruptly, only to find himself facing a woman of an intricate beauty. The pair of dark eyes were cautiously studying his face, while corners of the intensively red lips slowly raised in a polite smile. Dark brown wavy hair, framing her symmetrical features, were shining slightly in the light of the lamps illuminating the study.

However, he was forced to stop his marvelling over the beauty, as her sweet voice brought him back to reality. "I'm sorry, are you professor Jack Hodgins?"

He parted his lips, ready to answer, but he wasn't able to find his voice. He could almost feel Edison's stare boring into his back and getting more and more intensive with every passing moment. Although his assistant was probably ready to respond on his behalf, Hodgins finally gathered his bearings. "Ye-yes…," he confirmed, scolding himself in his mind for his wavering voice. "Yes, that is me," he added, this time more firmly.

The beauty's smile broadened, with a glint of pearly teeth visible between her lips. "Brennan sent me, I'm supposed to make a sketch of the victim," she exclaimed, glancing at Edison. "I heard the news," she continued excitedly. "That mystery is getting more interesting with every discovery."

"Oh, yes. Yes, it is," professor chimed in, doing his best not to be completely distracted by that gorgeous woman that had just stepped into his study.

"May I take a look?," she asked, pointing at the skull.

"Of course." Hodgins smiled a bit awkwardly, stepping away and allowing the beauty to have a closer look.

"It's…," she paused for a moment, taking in the picture of the bones laying before her. "I never made a sketch of a face based only on a skull," she admitted a bit sheepishly.

Professor compressed his lips, his earlier anxiety creeping back into his mind. His worries turned out to be justifiable apparently, yet he couldn't dwell on this for too long as Miss Montenegro's shy smile captured his attention.

"I've never seen real human bones and it is… a bit disturbing, but I wasn't expecting that so much of actual face features can be seen on the skull," she marvelled, capturing it with her delicate fingers and raising it a bit, so she could better examine its structure. "I knew it would be… an interesting experience, but this is…," she trailed off, tracing the skull's edges with her index finger. "I doubt I could enjoy working with dead people, but to give one of them their face back… I think it's worth it," she smiled, gazing at the professor, who did his best to pretend that he hadn't been staring at her for the last couple of minutes.

"It is certainly high-minded," Hodgins agreed, proceeding to adjust his glasses, so he could avoid her look. "I am glad that you are so driven to perform your task, Miss…," he wanted to continue, his memory being as good as it was, but the woman jumped in quicker than he could finish.

"Oh, I forgot about introducing myself!," she interjected apologetically, carefully putting the skull back on the table. "I'm Angela Montenegro," she declared, offering her hand to the professor.

He took it a bit hesitantly, taken aback by her gesture. Her skin was soft; he couldn't help but feel as if it was a piece of precious silk caressing his palm. "I've known that already, Miss Brennan informed me about all the details," he explained politely, releasing her hand and giving her a small smile.

For a moment seconds seemed to last much longer than they should, as he sunk in those chocolate eyes, so full of excitement and passion. He would have stayed like this for the next few hours had it not been for the amount of important work that was yet to be done. Hodgins cleared his throat, motioning at his assistant. "This is Clark Edison, he is helping me with my research," he clarified.

Miss Montenegro nodded at the other man, to which he responded with a warm smile. "Nice to meet you, Mr Edison," she affirmed.

"The pleasure's all mine," the man replied, making a small bow.

She chuckled lightly in response, which was one of the most beautiful sounds the professor had ever heard. He couldn't believe how it could have happened, but he was completely mesmerised by the woman before him. From her graceful movements, to her quite exotic features, everything about her seemed perfect. Why such an angel appeared in his study, he wasn't able to tell.

"I think I should get to work," Miss Montenegro remarked, reaching to her bag to pull out a sketchpad and drawing tools. "Where may I…" She looked around, searching for a suitable place to sit dawn and start sketching.

The professor quickly understood what she meant and showed her a small desk nearby. "I'll bring you the skull in a moment."

She nodded and headed towards the desk, sitting down on a chair next to it soon after. She placed everything she needed on the desktop, and laced her fingers, glancing at the two men that were leaning over the bones.

Hodgins quickly caught her look and cautiously took the skull. Rushing towards her, he tried to focus on the tools that were spread on the desk, instead of her curious gaze. "Voila," he stated, putting the skull on one of the books to the side, so it could be better visible.

"Thank you." She smiled, reaching out for a pencil. "I think we should start. So, tell me, doc, what do you see?" She looked at him with curiosity, tilting slightly her head.

"Oh, one can read the whole life story from the bones," he declared enthusiastically, leaning closer to the skull. Indeed, he could see a face before him, although only in his own mind. When it came to describing that picture in an imaginative enough way, he doubted his ability. "But I'm afraid I lack an artistic soul," he admitted dejectedly after a moment.

She narrowed her eyes. "Let's see about that…," she muttered, more to herself it seemed. "Shall we?" She offered him a warm smile, to which he responded with a smile of his own.


	2. A Promise In The Proposition

**_A/N_** _: W_ _e are, slowly but surely, getting somewhere :)_

 _Once again, I hope everyone is in character, and you can slowly notice that some other relationships than Hodgela may play quite a significant part in that story._

 _However, I'm not sure when you can expect the next ficlet, as I have a few other projects waiting to be finally finished._

 _(And the apparent lack of interest is hardly encouraging. But—don't worry—I have ideas and a strong drive to do something with that story ;) )_

 _I hope you'll like it! :D_

 _(It's a repost of a ficlet that was published on Ao3 on August 11th, 2017.)_

* * *

 ** _A Promise In The Proposition_**

* * *

Angela left the Chief's office with a broad smile lighting up her face. She was proud of their work and very happy for Temperance succeeding in her investigation, and she had to admit that the last two days were actually really enjoyable, some break from constant sitting behind a desk more than welcoming. Searching for necessary pieces of information and new exciting clues proved to be quite engaging, especially with Wendell by her side, who was surprisingly good of an investigator himself. She could definitely get used to it.

The man in question showed up by her side, catching up with her in a few steps, his face mirroring her own expression. "Must admit it's a really good fun," he commented, hiding his writing pad in one of the pockets in his jacket. His smile remained on his lips for a moment, but then he frowned as if something troubled him out of a sudden. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm very sorry for Eva Braga's death…"

"I get it, Wendell," she cut him short with a reassuring smile of her own. She tilted her head slightly, studying thoroughly young man's face. He was a clever reporter and she couldn't help but like him; he happened to appear in the LAPD headquarters quite frequently as soon as he heard about an intriguing case that might be interesting for readers. Even though some might see him as nothing more than a noisy reporter, Angela couldn't refrain from admiring his skills. Maybe he could do something more than just reporting interesting stories? "Brennan could use your help, you know," she remarked, turning away.

They had just reached a telephone that Angela had planned to use to contact Brennan to check on the progress of the investigation. Calling Temperance's home proved to be fruitless, so she soon let it go, assuming that her friend might have found out who the killer was, and begun her pursuit with Booth. Hopefully.

"Nah, it does sound great, but I'd miss reporting," Wendell declared with a light chuckle, leaning against a desk on which the telephone was placed. "Besides, I doubt that Miss Brennan would like to have a company while working," he commented, casting a meaningful look in Angela's direction. "She seems to be something of a lone wolf to me."

Angela narrowed her eyes, glancing at him skeptically. "I don't know, but I think she would appreciate the help of someone who knows what it is like to actually investigate things," she declared slightly flirtatiously, earning a young man's smirk in return. It was only then that she spotted someone hoovering around her desk somewhat impatiently and awkwardly at the same time.

Wendell was quick to follow her gaze, and his smile only grew. "I think the professor would like to talk to you," he remarked seemingly casually. "And I have an article that won't write itself."

She looked at him questioningly, only to be even more surprised by a wink he gave her.

"See you soon, Miss Montenegro," he added light-heartedly, heading towards the exit.

"If you're implying anything, there's nothing…" she yelled after him, feeling warm gathering in her cheeks and desperate to ignore it. Unfortunately, Wendell soon disappeared behind a closing door, and the only thing she achieved was bringing the attention of other people on her.

She bore her eyes into the floor, clearing her throat. Taking a deep breath would be definitely helpful while dealing with embarrassment, she reminded herself. Besides, ignoring all these interested gazes, especially the one of those incredibly intriguing blue eyes, couldn't be really that difficult, could it?

Angela smiled brightly as if nothing had just happened and started walking slowly in the direction of her desk. The professor looked away from her as soon as their gazes met, and she immediately spotted that he had to be way more embarrassed then she had been just moments ago.

"How can I help you?," she inquired gently when she reached her desk.

The professor stepped back, allowing her access to a chair. She nodded in acknowledgement, but refrained from sitting down, instead opting for putting away papers and notes she grabbed on her way and turning towards the man.

"I believe I have a small proposition for you, Miss Montenegro," he stated a bit shyly, his eyes still avoiding her.

"You do?," she asked, trying to encourage him to continue.

"Well, being as a wonderful artist as you undoubtedly are, you could be of a great help for me, as I would love to work with someone capable of creating such accurate visualisations of how the creatures I am studying might have looked like," he explained hurriedly, as if fearing what her reaction would be. "And I can't think of a better candidate than you," he declared with a weak smile, hesitantly glancing at her.

"So… You're asking me if I'd like to help you with your work? Making sketches of some extinct dinosaurs?" She raised her eyebrows, taken aback by his proposition.

He winced slightly, scratching his neck, his enthusiasm slowly fading. "If you put it that way, it may not seem appealing, however…"

"I'd love to, doc," she beamed, stopping him in mid-sentence.

He looked at her incredulously, apparently not expecting such a response. "You agree to…?"

"Yes," Angela confirmed firmly, nodding. "Office work can get so boring sometimes, and I could use my talent to do something meaningful," she added eagerly.

"That is… splendid." The professor smiled brightly, but looked away once more. "Thank you once again for your help with the sketch and I hope to see you soon, Miss Montenegro," he stated, his voice soft.

Then her gaze finally met that incredible pair of blue eyes and Angela wasn't able to give any other response than a warm smile. She had no idea what it was about that man, but he was so much more than what meets the eye. At first, he seemed to be just another crazy scientist, obsessed with their work and not paying any attention to anything else. However, in the few short hours since she had met him, Angela had seen the passion that was driving him to discover secrets hidden in bare bones. He wasn't afraid of new challenges, such as determining the cause of Eva Braga's death – something unheard of, for a palaeontologist to examine human remains as a part of a police investigation. Truth to be told, that curiosity and open-mindedness were in some way attractive, she realised.

It was the professor who broke the eye contact first, gazing at the pile of documents next to Angela. "You are welcomed at the museum any time," he mumbled, clearly doing his best to keep his voice steady. "I hope to see you soon," he repeated, smiling lightly at her, and walked away.

Angela could only follow him with her gaze. She didn't know why, but she was unable to find her voice. Saying a few words of a goodbye wasn't difficult, yet she was still only smiling.

Oh, she must have looked like a love-struck idiot.


End file.
